


Blank Slate

by Werederg



Series: Rewrite and Related [2]
Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: But MG is still a little bit of a simp, Character Study, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Lizzie is on the autistic spectrum, Mostly Platonic, One Shot, Pre-Canon, Relationship Study, Trans Character, Trans man MG, autism headcanon, or at least that's what I tried to do
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:14:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27677222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Werederg/pseuds/Werederg
Summary: “Well, I mean, you don’t have to be a vampire to be who you want to be. You can just do it, right?” MG said earnestly.Lizzie seemed to consider this for a moment, before shaking her head. “No, you can’t be someone new when everyone knows who you used to be. I can’t get away from what people think of me.”“Oh, okay.” MG thought for a moment. “Oh! Well, you know, I don’t know anything about you yet. You can be whoever you want to be with me, at least, right? Like a blank slate?”Lizzie considered the idea with pursed lips. Eventually she nodded and smiled. “Okay, we can be whoever we really want to be with each other, no matter what anyone else thinks. Blank slate.”
Relationships: Milton "MG" Greasley & Lizzie Saltzman, Milton "MG" Greasley/Lizzie Saltzman
Series: Rewrite and Related [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2023904
Comments: 9
Kudos: 7





	Blank Slate

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy Folks!  
> Okay so I was originally going to put this somewhere in my Legacies rewrite, but I don't think I'm going to find a good place to put it, but I still really like it. So it basically exists within the same canon as my rewrite, if that interests you. Although, I haven't been explicit with my interpretation of Lizzie before because I was still kind of working it out, but I've landed on an ASD diagnosis for her and this is my first try going all in on that, so let me know how it went. I'd love any and all feedback.  
> I do not deadname MG in this fic, but deadnaming is mentioned, so if that is something that might upset you, be careful.  
> Anyways, Enjoy!

MG had come to the Salvatore school a little over a year past. Before he even had a chance to be told that he was a vampire and try to understand what that meant, MG’s mom had shipped him off to the boarding school. Upon arrival, he had been brought to Dr. Saltzman’s office right after dropping his luggage at his new dorm room. Dr. Saltzman explained a few things about what was going on and what was happening to him, but MG barely managed to comprehend any of it.

“Alright then, I think everything should be in order.” Dr. Saltzman said, shuffling the papers he had on his desk into one neat stack. “My daughter Lizzie is coming down to give you a tour. She should be here any minute.”

MG liked Dr. Saltzman. He had a warm paternal energy about him that had reminded MG of his own father, but without the general formalness that MG’s father had by nature of him being a devout preacher.

A knock sounded on the door behind MG. Dr. Saltzman called for them to come in. The doors opened and in stepped in one of the most beautiful girls MG had ever seen in his entire life. She was tall and blonde, and she had the most brilliant, confident smile on her face. Her eyes were the color of the sky and twice as bright.

“Hi, Daddy.” Lizzie greeted, walking into the room like she owned the place. “Ooo, is this the new student?” She exclaimed, turning to face MG.

“Yes,” Dr. Saltzman answered, “he just arrived.”

MG cringed as Dr. Saltzman then proceeded to introduce him to Lizzie using his deadname, while Lizzie stared intently at him. MG shrunk under Lizzie’s scrutinizing gaze as she seemed to size him up. He tried to give her a friendly smile, but she didn’t respond to it.

“Okay, I’ll show him around. Bye, Dad.” Lizzie said brightly. She walked over to MG and looped an arm around his and led him out the door.

MG could feel his hands getting sweaty at being so close to such a pretty girl as they walked across campus. He had already been feeling self-conscious about being at a new school. Now, he wasn’t sure he had the guts to correct Lizzie when she called him by his deadname.

“Okay,” Lizzie began, seemingly trying to orient herself for the tour. “I’m Lizzie, I’ll be your tour guide today. I usually do these with my twin sister, Josie, but she had a test, so it’s just me today. What did you say your name was again? I know my dad said it, but I kinda spaced out.”

MG froze, a sweet mixture of joy and relief flooding his body. “Uh, it’s Milton,” MG said, unable to keep the smile off his face.

“It’s nice to meet you, Milton,” Lizzie said brightly. “Dad said you were a vampire, right?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“That must’ve been weird. I mean, you died, right? What’s that like?” Lizzie said, abruptly.

MG was a little startled by the question, so it took him a moment to get his tongue to work. “Oh, I don’t really know. I don’t remember too much about what happened. Your dad said that was normal. Honestly, though, I don’t even really mind it too much. Sometimes, I like to think about it as it was less like I died and more like I was born again, I guess. I mean, I basically get to start over and now I can be whoever I really want to be. You know?” MG rambled on a little, finishing with an embarrassed blush on his cheeks.

There was an intense spark in Lizzie’s eyes as she took in MG’s words. “I know what you mean,” She said with a nod. “I wish I could do that, but sadly, I am only a lowly witch.” Lizzie did a little exaggerated bow to compliment her joke.

MG laughed. “Well, I mean, you don’t have to be a vampire to be who you want to be. You can just do it, right?” MG said earnestly.

Lizzie seemed to consider this for a moment, before shaking her head. “No, you can’t be someone new when everyone knows who you used to be. I can’t get away from what people think of me.”

“Oh, okay.” MG thought for a moment. “Oh! Well, you know, _I_ don’t know anything about you yet. You can be whoever you want to be with me, at least, right? Like a blank slate?”

Lizzie considered the idea with pursed lips. Eventually she nodded and smiled. “Okay, we can be whoever we really want to be with each other, no matter what anyone else thinks. Blank slate.”

“Exactly,” MG said excitedly, feeling like he had just made his first friend.

“Okay, but that means you can’t listen to what anyone else says about who I used to be,” Lizzie said, a serious expression on her face.

“Of course, I promise,” MG said quickly, making a little cross over his heart.

“Okay,” Lizzie says, a wide smile on her face. “Anyways, this building is probably historical.” Lizzie gestures to the stone building to their left as she resumes the tour.

Later, during lunch, Lizzie caught MG right as he was coming out of the lunch line.

“Hey, Milton. Do you want to eat lunch with me and my sister?” Lizzie asked, gesturing to the table where her food sat.

“Oh, yeah, of course.” MG said, feeling some tension leave his chest at not having to worry about where to sit. He followed Lizzie to their table and places his food down next to hers.

“Hi, I’m Josie.” Josie said, as MG sat down at the table.

“I’m Milton,” MG said, with a smile. He never thought he would enjoy introducing himself this much.

They settled into casual conversation, mostly about things MG knew nothing about. He tried to take part in the discussion, but eventually he just sort of sat back and listened, content to be an observer to a world he would hopefully soon be a part of. He was broken from his thoughts after a moment when Lizzie directs a question at him.

“So, I have a question for you, Milton. I was talking to my dad earlier, and he was calling you by a girl’s name. What’s that about?” Lizzie asked casually, like she hadn’t just stumbled into a sensitive topic.

MG’s mouth went dry, unsure of what to say. He hadn’t really had to explain it to anyone other than when he came out to his mom, and that had been less than easy, for a number of reasons. There was a deep pit of dread in his stomach that told him he was about to lose his fresh start along with the first friend he had made here.

“ _Lizzie_.” Josie scolded her sister for her insensitive approach.

“What, Jo?” Lizzie looked at her sister like she was crazy, seemingly oblivious. “It’s not a big deal if he’s like trans or something, I’m just curious.”

The knot in MG’s stomach loosened instantly. This Lizzie girl was full surprises, and thankfully, they were good ones. MG couldn’t help sighing in relief before responding, still not really sure how to say it.

“Oh, well, I am trans, actually,” MG said, timidly.

“Okay, cool,” Lizzie said to him before turning on her sister. “See, I told you it wasn’t a big deal.”

There was a beat of silence, where MG just smiled at Lizzie, in awe of how she could make being himself so simple and easy.

“Oh, Milton, do you want us to talk to our dad or something, because all of your papers are like covered in your deadname. It’d suck it that stuff started getting distributed to teachers,” Lizzie said after a moment.

“Really? That would be amazing.” MG said, his smile getting wider.

“Yeah, sure.” Lizzie turns to Josie. “Hey, Jo, remind me to do that.”

Josie rolls her eyes and smiles. They continue to eat lunch, their conversation moving to talk about lighter things.

It had been a few months since MG had come to the Salvatore school. He was settling in decently. He still got homesick a lot and he was having trouble getting to know the other vampires, but he had Josie and Lizzie, and that was honestly more than he expected. He hung out in Dr. Saltzman’s office a lot during his free time, doing little odd jobs for him. It kept him busy and Dr. Saltzman was really nice and understanding and he was always willing to answer MG’s questions whether it was about supernatural stuff or just life stuff.

One day, MG was walking through the halls between classes and there was a lot of commotion going around. Everyone was gathered around the halls talking animatedly about some gossip or drama. MG edged his way closer to one of the groups to eavesdrop a little to see what was going on. When he heard the words “Lizzie” and “freak out”, his heart jumped into his throat and he didn’t listen to anything more. He didn’t want to hear what happened from anyone else but Lizzie. He immediately spun around and headed off toward Lizzie’s room.

When he got there, he listened for a moment with his supernatural hearing, something he was getting better at controlling, to see if she was inside. He could hear her taking measured breaths with a slight quaver in each exhale. MG knocked as gently as he could and told her it was him.

After a moment, the barrier spell around the room went down and MG was able to enter. He slipped inside, closing the door behind him. All of the lights were off in the room, the blinds closed, and Lizzie was sitting on the floor next to her bed, a blanket draped over her head.

MG didn’t say anything as he approached. He treaded as lightly as he could, coming to sit down about a few feet away from Lizzie so as to not crowd her. He could see now that he was closer that Lizzie that she was sitting with her knees to her chest, her arms wrapped around herself, rocking back and forth.

The room was unnaturally silent as MG sat there. It took him a few moments to realize that Lizzie had put up a sound dampening spell.

“Lizzie?” MG finally spoke softly.

Lizzie only made an unintelligible murmur in response.

“Are you okay? I heard something happened,” MG whispered.

“Yeah? You heard about how I’m a fucking freakshow who destroys everything she touches,” Lizzie snapped accusingly, her voice strained and rough like she had been yelling.

MG shook his head despite Lizzie not being able to see him. “No, of course not. I didn’t want to hear what happened from anyone but you,” MG insisted. He would never listen to what other people had to say about Lizzie. They didn’t know her.

Lizzie rocked silently for a moment before responding. “I had another meltdown,” She said so quietly, so weakly. She sounded so small and MG hated it. Lizzie had the biggest heart, the biggest spirit, the most life to her of any person MG had ever met and she should never have to feel small. The world was a worse place when Lizzie Saltzman felt small.

Lizzie took a few deep breaths before continuing. “It was in English class and I just got so overwhelmed,” Lizzie said, her voice shaking and getting choked with emotion. “Because we were changing assigned seats and I wasn’t paired up with Josie and when I argued, Josie took the fucking teacher’s side.” Lizzie voice got quicker and more heated as she went.

“And I’m just so stressed out because mom was supposed to come visit but she called it off at the last minute, probably because she doesn’t want to see me because I’m an awful daughter and a freak who can’t do anything right!” Lizzie would probably have been screaming at that point if she hadn’t already blown her voice out.

“Hey! None of that is true, Lizzie,” MG insisted softly. “Your mom loves you and you’re a better daughter than anyone could ever ask for. All that stuff is just the things other people say about you, and they don’t know what they’re talking about. I’ve known you for three months now and I’ve never seen a freak or a screw up or anything other than the strongest, smartest, most compassionate person I have ever met.”

The next thing MG knew, Lizzie was emerging from under the blanket and wrapping her arms around his neck in the tightest hug he had ever had in his life. He reciprocated as fast as superhumanly possible, feeling his face heat up a little at how close she was.

After a long moment, they separated and Lizzie scooted back over and brought her blanket around her shoulders, settling back into the corner made by her bed and bedside table.

“I’m definitely not going to anymore classes today. Do you want to stay and watch Lord of the Rings with me?” Lizzie asked, the spark in her eyes coming back little by little. “I can get my dad to excuse you later.”

“That sounds great,” MG says, brightening as Lizzie brightens.

Lizzie gave a small smile. “Grab my computer while I get the movies out?”

MG nodded and got up to retrieve the laptop off of Lizzie’s desk.

“You know, I’ve got the theatrical cut, the extended edition, and the collector’s edition of the movies with all the behind the scenes and commentary,” Lizzie said her voice blooming with pride at that fact as she opened the bottom drawer of her bedside table. “Which one do you want to watch?”

“Which ever one is your favorite,” MG said as he plops back down next to Lizzie, laptop in hand.

Lizzie rolled her eyes at that. “Like I could choose a favorite,” She said, despite not seeming to deliberate as she pulls a box out of the drawer.

As they put the movie in and pull it up, they decide to make a little blanket fort, the blanket draping over both of their heads and the computer with pillows propped up around them as walls. They spend the rest of the day watching the Lord of the Rings extended edition, although they don’t even make through the second movie by the time Dr. Saltzman comes to talk to Lizzie that evening.


End file.
